Photovoltaic Retinal Prosthesis for Restoring Sight to Patients Blinded by Retinal Injury or Degeneration
Abstract
Ocular trauma can result in traumatic retinopathy, which, like retinal degeneration, leads to blindness due to loss of photoreceptors. Visual information can be reintroduced into the retina by patterned electrical stimulation of the remaining inner retinal neurons. Photovoltaic subretinal prosthesis directly converts light into pulsed electric current in each pixel, stimulating the nearby neurons. Images captured by the head-mounted camera are projected onto retina by video goggles using pulsed near-infrared (~880nm) light. Preparation of this technology for clinical trial requires optimization of the photovoltaic array, addition of the biocompatible protective coating for long-term implantation in human patients, fabrication of the video goggles with a camera, and image processing software. In particular, we are working on (1) Development and testing of the SiC protective biocompatible coating for the implant. (2) Optimization of the pixel configuration to maximize its performance, including the light-to-current conversion, dynamic range, maximum repetition rate, minimum cross-talk and minimum pixel size. (3) Development of the near-infrared pulsed video goggles. (4) Development of the image processing software and user interface.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1064504
Entities
People
- Daniel V. Palanker
Organizations
- Stanford University